The Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation into Texas’ juvenile justice facilities over allegations of physical and sexual abuse against children there
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said the Justice Department, in conjunction with local U.S. attorneys’ offices across Texas, was launching a pattern-or-practice probe into potential civil rights abuses at juvenile correctional facilities. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesThe Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it was opening a civil rights investigation into Texas’ juvenile justice facilities over allegations of physical and sexual abuse against children there.
“State officials have a constitutional obligation to ensure reasonable safety for children in these institutions, and the Department of Justice is committed to protecting the rights of children who end up in such facilities,” she said at a virtual news conference announcing the investigation. “No child who is sent to a Texas facility for treatment and rehabilitation should be subjected to violence and abuse nor denied basic services.
Clarke said that among the things investigators will look into includes the reported use of pepper spray and restraints against children, as well as allegations of improper or excessive physical force, the use of isolation in these facilities and the level of mental health services available to children there. Clark also said that in recent years at least 11 staff members had been arrested over allegations of sexually abusing children at these facilities.
Clarke said that Texas officials had been formally notified of the nascent inquiry and that federal investigators intended to meet with their state counterparts as part of their examination of the treatment of youths in these facilities.
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